Meadowlands Power Plant Company Is Full of “Hot Air”

The Diamond Generating Corp., a subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi based out of California, is looking for state approval to build a gas-fueled power plant in the Meadowlands. The proposed North Bergen Liberty Generating Project would be one of the largest plants in the state and cost $1.5 billion and send electricity to New York City. The plant is proposed to go on a 15-acre parcel near Railroad Avenue on the banks of Bellman’s Creek in an industrial section of the town. They are seeking several permits from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). The Diamond Generating Corporation had a press conference in support of a massive power plant, this is New Jersey Sierra Club’s rebuttal. Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, released the following statement:

“The Diamond Generating Corp. is spinning faster than one of their turbines putting more hot air on their power plants. Because they cannot justify the unjustifiable. This is an unneeded and damaging power plant in the middle of the Meadowlands. This massive natural gas plant would be either the largest or second largest sources of air pollution and greenhouse gasses in New Jersey. A giant natural gas power plants in the heart of the Meadowlands is a terrible idea. Not only would it threaten an already overdeveloped sensitive ecosystem, but it would pollute our air and water and seriously undermine our efforts to reach our goals under Global Warming Response Act. The DEP cannot approve permits to allow this plant to ruin the Meadowlands while adding more air and water pollution to communities already overburdened by pollution. We need the Murphy Administration to step in and stop this project from destroying New Jersey’s Meadowlands and undermining our goals for clean energy.

“They will be building this power plant in an area that has some of the air quality in the country. Bergen and Hudson county already have an F rating by the American Lung Association for ozone pollution. This power plant will only make it worse and affect millions of people in the region. Natural gas plants are not clean and only a bridge to more asthma and health problems. Our environmental justice communities already have some of the worst air quality in the nation and building another massive gas power plant will only exacerbate that. Almost every county in New Jersey that conducts monitoring has a failing grade for ozone. Our ozone levels are so high that it may put sensitive individuals at risk, including such as children, the elderly and people suffering from asthma, heart disease and other lung ailments.

“New Jersey will never reduce its greenhouse gases and meet its clean energy goals if this plant will be built. According to the Lung Association, this plant could generate almost 2.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide a year. It could be very close to being the top greenhouse gas producer in our state. These types of plants are monsters of air pollution in New Jersey emitting heavy metals and chemicals like ammonia and nitrogen oxide. Natural gas from fracking could generate if not more greenhouses gases than coal. Each well that is fracked requires hundreds of thousands of gallons of water and the wastewater produced contains over 700 chemicals. Drilling operations release toxic air emissions and methane, a greenhouse gas twenty times more potent than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in our atmosphere. Frack wastewater discharge, which is highly toxic and cannot be effectively cleaned is also a major concern.

“The power plant would use an estimated 8.6 million gallons of sewage discharge wastewater a day which is equivalent of what 85,000 people would use a day. This mean there will be even more chemicals that will be evaporated off as chemical drift. This can have significant health impacts on the environment. That steam can contain heavy metals like lead, algaecides, fungicides, and volatile organic compounds that will cool and end up on land, in our water, and killing plant life near the cooling towers.

“On cold days and other times of the year there will be a shortage of natural gas, which means the power plant will have will have to store over a million gallons of oil upslope from the Meadowlands for backup. There is a means there could be leaks and a chance of an oil spill. This project must be examined in context with the other infrastructure it would connect to and lead to being built in New Jersey. There would be more pipelines and compressor stations, including the proposed Gateway Project expansion. Despite our state having an oversupply of natural gas, they are continuing to push for more gas pipelines and infrastructure which will mean more fracking and greenhouse gas emissions. There could be hundreds of trucks coming into site that will add to more pollution if this plant were to be built. Much of this gas is more likely to go out of state or to export rather than service the people of New Jersey.

“The New Jersey Meadowlands is an environmentally sensitive area that is flood prone and in the process of being cleaned up. Why add pollution to an area that already has a lot of pollution? The Meadowlands is an oasis of nature being an environmentally sensitive area in one of the most developed places anywhere in the country. In the Meadowlands you can be kayaking between salt grass and then turn the corner to see the New York skyline. The Meadowlands is a very important environmentally sensitive area in the most densely populated part of the state. Its resources are important for flood control, fisheries, and migratory birds. Even though it has its toxic legacy the contaminated sites and landfills are being cleaned up and it is getting better, but now overdevelopment is a big threat.

“The expansion of natural gas projects in New Jersey will only create more climate effects and hinder efforts to have a green economy. This power plant would pay almost no property taxes under a New Jersey law that tax exempts energy utility facilities. We should not be building more natural gas infrastructure if we want to reach Governor Murphy’s strong environmental and clean energy goals for New Jersey. We could create over 1,000s more jobs building renewable energy projects like offshore windmills.  If we want to get to 100% green energy by 2050 we need to focus on renewable energy such as solar and wind. We’re already seeing setbacks with the current nuclear subsidy bill and this power plant would be a one-two punch to clean energy and creating green jobs. We must promote clean energy and block dirty fossil fuels from continuing to infiltrate our state.

“With this plant the company makes the money, New York gets the gas, and New Jersey gets stuck with the pollution, climate and health impacts. The wetlands in the Meadowlands should not be paved over for unnecessary development. This power plant will leave an ugly scar on an environmentally sensitive area. The Meadowlands needs another power plant like it needs another Superfund Site. The Murphy Administration must stop this massive gas power plant from polluting our state and preventing us from reaching our renewable energy goals.”